JOHNSON
Sir, you are right. A great deal of good has grown there, and I doubt not that more is already sprouting. But, sir, we have explored a broad expanse of ocean, have we yet found any dry land? Has Socrates yet satisfied himself that we are fighting this war for a sufficient purpose?
SOCRATES
I see upon the horizon a kind of cloud, which is lighted by Arden’s faith and the honesty of the two soldiers. It may, indeed, be something more solid than a cloud.
LINCOLN
I pray it is. There was never a sailor, starving and benighted on the open sea, who prayed more fervently for a good landfall than I pray now that our forces may have speedy victory, and good fruits of their victory…
He is interrupted by the noise of an undisguised and hearty yawn. BEETHOVEN has wakened again.
BEETHOVEN
Young man, what time is it in Chicago?
ARDEN
A minute to nine, sir.
BEETHOVEN
Then let us have some music.
He rises from his chair and walks heavily to the television set. Presently the screen is lighted, and a swarm of images — like a drop of pond water under a microscope — appear momentarily, and disappear, as BEETHOVEN searches for the scene he wants.
BEETHOVEN
What have you been talking about?
LINCOLN
War and peace.
BEETHOVEN
Are they going to make a good peace?
JOHNSON
Sir, we hope so…
A picture appears on the screen of a symphony orchestra: fiddle-bows flashing like a flight of arrows in the sun, wood-winds and brass at work, and a tall, grey-haired conductor driving them, as if to the attack, with precise but exultant gestures, DR. JOHNSON is interrupted.
BEETHOVEN
Confound that clock, it’s slow again! My Symphony’s half done, three-quarters done, they’re near the end of it. The devil take all clocks, they’re always slow…
He is silenced, abruptly, by the full voice of the orchestra. They are playing his Seventh Symphony, and they have newly begun the fourth movement. The Immortals listen for a little while, and then BEETHOVEN speaks, while the music continues.
BEETHOVEN
You have been talking about war and the making of peace. Well, that is the peace I made. I had been at war like the rest of the world. But I was alone in my war, I had no allies. I knew all the anguish and disillusion that man is heir to. But I took arms against them, and in the heart of the conflict saw the peace that I should make. Do not think peace to be a shallow or a placid thing. It is deep and rich. It is full of movement and joy, of work and laughter and the reaching-out of your hands to God. That is the peace of a living soul. Have nothing to do with any thin or idle peace, mere rest from toil and relapse from war. That is only the peace of dying. Listen.… There is a just and proper peace, and I saw it in the thick of battle. Will they make as good a one, d’you think?
LINCOLN
You set too high a standard.
BEETHOVEN
I was alone, but they are many. If they put all their minds together, will the sum not equal mine in desire, and vision, and determination? That is the creative trinity: desire, and vision, and determination.
The music continues.
In The Cornerstones, the first of these Conversations, the idea was put forward that there is, in the United Nations, sufficient community of interest to warrant the establishment, by Great Britain, China, the United States, and Russia, of a rule of world-wide law. Given the vision, given courage, it could be done.… Then in The Raft, the second Conversation, the state of Britain is considered. Are the people of Britain capable of serving the new world, of writing with honour a new chapter of history? The answer, conclusively, is Yes.… But Socrates, in the third of the pieces, has still to be satisfied that the Allies are truly conscious of their purpose. A four-fold rule of law is not enough: the peace within that rule must not be an idle peace, but creative. If that is not explicitly our intention and desire, then why are we fighting?
NOTE. — The Cornerstones was published in December of last year, and twice broadcast early in this. The Raft was broadcast in August, and Socrates Asks Why in early October 1942.
A Note on the Author
Eric Linklater was born in 1899 in Penarth, Wales. He was educated in Aberdeen, and was initially interested in studying medicine; he later switched his focus to journalism, and became a full-time writer in the 1930’s. During his career, Linklater served as a journalist in India, a commander of a wartime fortress in the Orkney Islands, and rector of Aberdeen University. He authored more than twenty novels for adults and children, in addition to writing short stories, travel pieces, and military histories, among other works. He died in 1977.
Discover books by Eric Linklater published by Bloomsbury Reader at
www.bloomsbury.com/EricLinklater
A Man over Forty
A Spell for Old Bones
A Terrible Freedom
Juan in China
Ripeness Is All
The Crusader’s Key
The Dark of Summer
The Goose Girl and Other Stories
The Impregnable Women
The Merry Muse
The Pirates in the Deep Green Sea
The Army at War Series:
The Defense of Calais
The Highland Division
The Northern Garrisons
For copyright reasons, any images not belonging to the original author have been removed from this book. The text has not been changed, and may still contain references to missing images.
This electronic edition published in 2014 by Bloomsbury Reader
Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP
First published in Great Britain in 1942 by Macmillan & Company Ltd.
Copyright © 1942 Eric Linklater
All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The moral right of the author is asserted.
eISBN: 9781448214327
Visit www.bloomsburyreader.com to find out more about our authors and their books You will find extracts, author interviews, author events and you can sign up for newsletters to be the first to hear about our latest releases and special offers.
The Raft & Socrates Asks Why Page 7